The Gulf States Battle the Oil Spill and Property Owners Battle the City of LA

Desperate efforts are being made to limit potential damage from the Gulf Oil spill that could extend all the way to the Eastern seaboard. Congress wants to know about cozy relations between the oil industry and federal regulators. Also on WWLA?… two questions for tough times: should homeowners pay for sidewalk repairs—even when the damage was caused by the city? Should landlords share the pain of their tenants by freezing increases in rents?

FROM THIS EPISODE

Desperate efforts are being made to limit potential damage from the Gulf Oil spill that could extend all the way to the Eastern seaboard. Congress wants to know about cozy relations between the oil industry and federal regulators. Also on WWLA?… two questions for tough times: should homeowners pay for sidewalk repairs—even when the damage was caused by the city? Should landlords share the pain of their tenants by freezing increases in rents?

To reduce the overcrowding that leads to violence, LA County Sheriff Lee Baca says he’s cut the population of the Men’s Central Jail from 10,000 20 years ago to 4,175 today. But a report by the American Civil Liberties Union says it is stil “a modern-day medieval dungeon” where abuse goes unchecked and prisoners live in fear of retaliation.

BP, the Coast Guard and thousands of local fisermen are trying to control the oil slick moving toward the shores of 4 Gulf-coast states. Meantime, a 4-story, 100-ton containment dome has arrived on the ocean’s surface, 5000 feet above the well that’s gushing 210,000 gallons of oil every day. The numbers alone reveal the magnitude of an impending disaster.

The Los Angeles City Council is trying to spread the pain of economic hard times to homeowners and landlords. Who should pay for sidewalk repairs? Should owners of rent-controlled apartments have to freeze increases for tenants?